Chronic inflammation has been associated with many diseases of aging, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Inflammasomes can drive chronic inflammation and they trigger the maturation of interleukin-1β (IL-1β). Here, Furman and colleagues find that older subjects can be divided into two groups: those with constitutive expression of IL-1β, nucleotide metabolism dysfunction, elevated oxidative stress, high rates of hypertension and arterial stiffness; and those without constitutive expression of IL-1β, who lack these characteristics. There was a link between chronic inflammation and chronic diseases that accompany aging. Caffeine and its metabolites appear to counter part of this age-related inflammatory signaling, providing a possible explanation for why coffee drinkers tend to live longer than abstainers.
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Furman D, Chang J, Lartigue L, Bolen CR, Haddad F, Gaudilliere B, Ganio EA, Fragiadakis GK, Spitzer MH, Douchet I, Daburon S, Moreau JF, Nolan GP, Blanco P, Déchanet-Merville J, Dekker CL, Jojic V, Kuo CJ, Davis MM, Faustin B: Expression of specific inflammasome gene modules stratifies older individuals into two extreme clinical and immunological states. Nature Medicine [Jan. 16, 2017; Epub ahead of print, doi: 10.1038/nm.4267].
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